Soviet Union USSR. Russian Communist Union of Youth (RKSM) Membership Booklet, 1922, Featuring a Quote Attributed to Leon Trotsky (Российский коммунистический союз молодёжи)

Membership booklet of the Russian Communist Union of Youth, known by the abbreviation RKSM (Российский коммунистический союз молодёжи), a communist youth organization officially founded on 29 October 1918 during the First Congress of Associations of Working-Class and Peasant Youth. Established during the Russian Civil War, it brought together various communist and socialist youth movements associated with the Bolshevik revolutionary project. In 1926, it adopted the name Leninist Young Communist League, commonly known as the Komsomol.

During its early years, members took part in the Civil War alongside the Red Army, in literacy campaigns promoted by the new regime, and in voluntary reconstruction work involving infrastructure, factories and railways, including the well-known subbotniks.

The booklet belonged to Nikolay Timofeevich Vilin, born in 1902 and registered with the organization in the central urban district (Центр. Гор. р.) and the V.O. district (В.О. район). It also records his affiliation with the Krasnaya Nit spinning mill (Прядильня «Красная Нить», “Red Thread”). The booklet was issued on 7 September 1922.

Of particular interest is the quotation attributed to Leon Trotsky printed in the document: “The broader and more powerful the youth movement develops, the firmer our confidence that the counter-revolution will not defeat us.” Its presence is especially noteworthy in a communist membership document, given the later political conflict between Trotsky and the Stalinist leadership.

Original membership booklet of the Russian communist youth organization, issued in 1922.